Light bulb carton holder

ABSTRACT

A holder is described for containing a plurality of light bulb cartons in easily accessible locations to increase the efficiency of display and bulb replacement. The holder is an elongated tubular structure having elongated vertical side openings for permitting the convenient insertion and removal of any one of the contained light bulb cartons. A handle tab formed integrally with a rear wall and a top wall extends therefrom. In addition a hanger is provided that may be conveniently attached to a wall surface. The hanger has a bar that is set out from a back plate to form a vertical slot therebetween to receive the tab handles from one or more holders.

United States Patent [72] Inventor William B. Hopkins 3,047,185 7/1962 Lewis 220/18 2616 Southeast Boulevard, Spokane, Wash. 3,140,008 7/ 1964 Spery 229/40 X 99203 Primary ExammerDav1d M. Bockenek [2]] Appl. No. 839,214 [22] Filed July 7 1969 Attorney Wells and St. John [45] Patented June 15, 1971 [54] LIGHT BULB CARTON HOLDER AB STRACT: A holder is described for containing a plurality 6 Claims 7 Drawing Figs. of light bulb canons lll easily accessible locations to increase the efficiency of display and bulb replacement. The holder IS [52] US. Cl 229/40, an elongated b l structure having elongated vertical side 206/65 248/497 openings for permitting the convenient insertion and removal [51] Int. Cl 865d 5/02 f any one f the contained light bu|b canons A handle tab [50] Field of Search 229/40; f d integrally with a realand a top n extends 206/65; 21 1/59 1 13; 248/497; 0 39 therefrom. In addition a hanger is provided that may be conveniently attached to a wall surface. The hanger has a bar that [56] References Cited is set out from a back plate to form a vertical slot UNITED STATES PATENTS therebetween to receive the tab handles from one or more hol- 7 2,299,443 10/1942 Walmsley 248/497 ders.

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Q l6eq LIGHT BULB CARTON HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to storage and packaging devices and more particularly to carton holders for displaying and storing several incandescent light bulb cartons.

Incandescent light bulbs are relatively fragile and require special packaging and handling from manufacture until they are used. Also light bulbs generally have a relatively short useful life requiring frequent replacement. It is not uncommon for the general household to replace light bulbs several times a year at each light socket.

It is frequently desirable to have several replacement bulbs on hand to quickly replace burned out bulbs to minimize the danger and inconvenience caused by the lack of illumination. Most people have experienced the frustration of having no replacement bulbs on hand or having the wrong wattage bulbs on hand.

The storage of replacement bulbs in the household also presents problems to most people. Frequently, various wattage bulbs are stacked or piled on a shelf or in a cupboard requiring one to sift through the bulbs to find the proper one because the bulbs are not efficiently and effectively displayed in an easy accessible location or manner. Another frequent problem is that the bulbs are located in several locations requiring an extensive search to find the proper bulb.

A further problem associated with the display and storage of light bulbs frequently takes place at the retail store. The bulb cartons are often placed on an open rack or in bins where it is easy for the bulbs to become mixed, requiring one to sift through many of the bulbs to find the kind and quantity desired. Many times the shopper must bend over to see if the bulbs he desires are on the lower shelf of the rack.

Incandescent light bulbs are generally packaged in paper corrugated cartons singularly or in a set oftwo or more. Often the user desires to have more than two or four bulbs on hand of the more popular wattage sizes. The shopper frequently finds it difficult to handle more than a couple of the light bulb cartons with ease without either dropping the cartons or having the cartons become displaced from each other.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a display package or holder for a plurality of light bulb cartons that may be easily hung in a convenient location to provide easy and convenient access to each carton contained therein.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a display package or holder device for a plurality of light bulb cartons that may be inexpensively manufactured and assembled.

A further object of this invention is to provide a display package or holder device that has a versatile handle that is formed integrally with the holder for ease in manufacture and structural integrity.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a display holder arrangement that may be easily mounted on a wall surface in the home for displaying and storing a plurality of light bulb cartons containing different wattage bulbs in an efficient and accessible manner.

These and further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of this inventron.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typicallight bulb carton having open ends and containing two light bulbs;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate typical carton arrangement for light bulbs in which a corrugated carton containing the light bulbs is shown partly inserted into a cardboard sleeve that substantially encloses the open ends of the corrugated carton;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a light bulb carton holder embodying this invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the holder shown in FIG. 3 showing three light bulb cartons positioned in a vertical row within the holder; I

FIG. 5 is a side view of an alternate embodiment in which the carton sleeves define compartments within the packaging holder;

FIG. 6 is a front view ofa plurality of the packaging holders mounted on a hanger device attached to a wall surface to provide easy access and convenient storage of light bulb cartons; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6 showing in detail the structure of the hanger device in relation to a holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THIS INVENTION Referring now in detail to the drawings that are shown in FIG. 1 a corrugated cardboard light bulb carton 10 that has a rectangular tubular shape with open ends. The carton 10 has four sidewalls 11 formed in rectangular tubular configuration. Two light bulbs 12 and 13 are shown located within the carton in side-by-side orientation directed in opposite directions. Frequently, a corrugated divider 14 extends between two of the sidewalls 11 for dividing the carton into two compartments to prevent the bulbs from directly engaging each other. This is a typical type of light bulb carton for many of the popular size wattage bulbs ranging from 25 watts to watts. Often higher wattage bulbs are packaged singularly or in a corrugated tubular carton.

Frequently the corrugated carton 10 is inserted into a tubular rectangular sleeve 16 made of cardboard and having end walls 17. Sometimes the end walls 17 have apertures 18 formed therein for exposing the bulb end of the light bulbs. As shown in FIG. 2 the corrugated carton 10 is inserted into the tubular sleeve 16 so that the end wall 17 substantially enclose the open ends of the corrugated carton to further protect the light bulbs. The corners of the sleeve 16 have been clipped as shown at 16a to facilitate the insertion of the carton 10 into the light pack holder shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

This invention is concerned with packaging, displaying and handling a plurality of the corrugated cartons in a vertical row. FIG. 3 shows an elongated light bulb carton holder 20 for receiving three corrugated cartons in spaced compartments. The holder 20 has an elongated rear wall 21 (FIG. 4) and an elongated front wall 22 that is parallel to and spaced from the rear wall. A bottom wall 23 interconnects the lower ends of the rear wall and front walls. A top wall 24 extends between the upper ends of the rear wall and front wall to form a substantially elongated tubular rectangular holder having elongated vertical side openings 25 and 26 for permitting the convenient insertion and removal of any of the corrugated cartons without disturbing the others. Depending upon the type of corrugated carton used and whether or not it is first inserted into the sleeve 16 may depend upon whether the packaging holder 20 has horizontal dividers 27 and 28 extending between the front and rear walls to divide the holder into vertical spaced compartments A, B and C. If the corrugated carton is first inserted into a tubular sleeve 16', the sleeve 16 is then utilized as shown in FIG. 5, in lieu of the dividers 27 and 28 to form vertically spaced compartments between the walls 21 and 22. In this arrangement corrugated cartons 10 are inserted into the compartments with two opposite sidewalls ll exposed so that the corrugated carton 10 may be removed or inserted directly into the sleeves while the sleeves are located within the packaging holder 20 as shown in FIG. 5.

The elongated holder 20 has a tab handle 30 formed thereon for permitting the holder to be hung in several different manners. In FIG. 3 the elongated holder is mounted on a nail or peg extending from a wall surface; whereas in FIG. 6 the tab handle is mounted on a hanger arrangement 42. The tab handle 30 is layered with at least one layer communicating with the rear wall and another layer communicating with the top wall to provide an integrated structure to permit the frequent manipulation of the tab handle 30 without compromising its strength characteristics. In this embodiment, the tab handle has two layers 31 and 32. The layer 31 is formed integrally with the upper end of the rear wall 21 and the layer 32 is formed integrally with the rear end of the top wall 24. The layers 31 and 32 are laminated together to form a composite tab handle 30. The handle has an elongated horizontal aperture 33 formed therein to permit convenient hand carrying of the holder 20. It should be noted that, as illustrated in FIG. 4, this aperture also facilitates the hanging of a plurality of the holders in one from to back row on a support S ofa display board D at the point of retail sale. A central notch 34 is formed in the tab handle communicating with the aperture 33 to permit the handling of the holder in a substantially vertical orientation on a hook or nail similar to that shown in FIG. 3.

During the manufacture and assembly of the elongated holder 20, it should be pointed out, that the holder may be made from one long strip in which the strip is folded inwardly to form a bottom rear corner 36, a bottom front corner 37 and a top front corner 38. One end of the strip may be then folded or creased outwardly to form the top rear corner. The ends of the strip form the layers 31 and 32 of the handle. The ends are laminated together by known means such as adhesive or staples.

As part of this invention a plurality of elongated holders 20 may be mounted in a display device as shown in FIG. 6. The display device has a hanger 42 that may be readily and conveniently attached to a wall surface W or the like. The hanger 42 has an elongated back plate 43 that may be readily attached directly to the wall surface W. The back plate 43 has holes 44 formed therethrough accommodating nails or screws. The back plate may also have adhesive 45 (FIG. 7) secured on the back thereof for adhering the back plate 43 directly to the wall surface.

One of the principal elements of the hanger 42 is an elongated horizontal bar 47 that extends parallel to the back plate and is spaced therefrom by spacers 48 at both ends of the bar 47. The space between the horizontal bar 47 and the back plate 43 forms a vertical slot 51 for accommodating the tab handles 30 of several elongated holders 20. The elongated horizontal bar has a substantially rectangular cross section except for an inclined top surface 52 that extends downward from the front of the bar to the slot 51. The inclined top surfaces provides a substantially thin top edge adjacent the front of the bar so that the holders will hang substantially vertically without being biased outwardly at an inclined angle.

As shown in FIG. 6 a plurality of packaging holders 20 may be mounted on the hanger 42. Each of the packaging holders 20 contains a different wattage size bulb or a different type of bulb such as a standard or soft light illumination. Printed indicia may be placed on the front wall of the holders to clearly identify the wattage and type of bulb contained in the cartons that are supported in the holders. The hanger 42 may be conveniently mounted on the back ofa closet door or in the closet at a convenient elevation so that the user may either withdraw a carton directly from the holder while the holder is mounted on the bar 47 or the holder may be withdrawn from the bar and then the carton may be removed from one side of the holder to obtain the desired light bulb.

From this description, the convenience, ease and accessibility provided by the holders in combination with the hanger 42 may be readily appreciated for providing a comprehensive display arrangement that greatly eliminates the space and storage problems and substantially reduces the frustrations encountered in the normal course of requisitioning, storing and replacing the bulbs.

It should be understood that the above described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and numerous modifications may be made to the described embodiment without deviating from the principles thereof. Therefore, only the following claims are intended to define my invention.

What I claim is: l. A holder for supporting a plurality oflight bulb cartons in a vertical row, said holder comprising:

a single elongated strip having ends in which the strip is folded to form a rectangular enclosure having integrally connected upright rear wall, bottom wall, elongated upright front wall parallel to and spaced from the rear wall and a top wall with the ends extending outward from the rear wall and top wall respectively and being secured together to form a two layer mounting tab in which an aperture is formed through the tab to facilitate the hanging of the holder for storage and display in an upright manner.

2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the tab aperture is elongated in a horizontal direction with a central notch formed in the tab communicating with the horizontal aperture for facilitating the hanging of the holder on a nail or the like.

3. A holder as defined in claim 1 further comprising evenly spaced horizontal dividers extending between the rear wall and the front wall for dividing the interior of the holder into compartments for receiving light bulb cartons.

4. A display device for attaching to a wall surface or the like to display and store a plurality of light bulb cartons in an easy accessible manner, said display device comprising:

a hanger mounted on the wall surface, said hanger having an elongated horizontal bar spaced from the wall surface to define an elongated vertical slot therebetween; and

at least one elongated vertical holder hung on the hanger in front of the bar for storing a plurality of light bulb cartons in a vertical row, said holder having a tab handle formed integrally therewith and extending therefrom over the bar and downward through the vertical slot to secure the holder to the hanger with the holder extending downward in front of the bar.

5. A display device as defined in claim 4. wherein the hanger further comprises an elongated back plate for mounting to the wall surface and wherein the horizontal bar is affixed to the back plate in a spaced parallel relationship to form said elongated vertical slot therebetween and wherein the bar is tapered with an inclined surface communicating with the slot forming a thin top edge for engaging the tab handle.

6. A display device as defined in claim 4. wherein the holder has a rectangular tubular shape that is formed from a single elongated strip having integrally connected elongated upright rear wall, bottom wall, elongated upright front wall parallel to and spaced from the rear wall, and a top wall with the ends of the strip extending outward from the rear wall and the top wall and being secured together to form the mounting handle with the mounting handle extending over the hanger bar and downwardly through the vertical slot. 

1. A holder for supporting a plurality of light bulb cartons in a vertical row, said holder comprising: a single elongated strip having ends in which the strip is folded to form a rectangular enclosure having integrally connected upright rear wall, bottom wall, elongated upright front wall parallel to and spaced from the rear wall and a top wall with the ends extending outward from the rear wall and top wall respectively and being secured together to form a two layer mounting tab in which an aperture is formed through the tab to facilitate the hanging of the holder for storage and display in an upright manner.
 2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the tab aperture is elongated in a horizontal direction with a central notch formed in the tab communicating with the horizontal aperture for facilitating the hanging of the holder on a nail or the like.
 3. A holder as defined in claim 1 further comprising evenly spaced horizontal dividers extending between the rear wall and the front wall for dividing the interior of the holder into compartments for receiving light bulb cartons.
 4. A display device for attaching to a wall surface or the like to display and store a plurality of light bulb cartons in an easy accessible manner, said display device comprising: a hanger mounted on the wall surface, said hanger having an elongated horizontal bar spaced from the wall surface to define an elongated vertical slot therebetween; and at least one elongated vertical holder hung on the hanger in front of the bar for storing a plurality of light bulb cartons in a vertical row, said holder having a tab handle formed integrally therewith and extending therefrom over the bar and downward through the vertical slot to secure the holder to the hanger with the holder extending downward in front of the bar.
 5. A display device as defined in claim
 4. wherein the hanger further comprises an elongated back plate for mounting to the wall surface and wherein the horizontal bar is affixed to the back plate in a spaced parallel relationship to form said elongated vertical slot therebetween and wherein the bar is tapered with an inclined surface communicating with the slot forming a thin top edge for engaging the tab handle.
 6. A display device as defined in claim
 4. wherein the holder has a rectangular tubular shape that is formed from a single elongated strip having integrally connected elongated upright rear wall, bottom wall, elongated upright front wall parallel to and spaced from the rear wall, and a top wall with the ends of the strip extending outward from the rear wall and the top wall and being secured together to form the mounting handle with the mounting handle extending over the hanger bar and downwardly through the vertical slot. 